Moro helmet

[estcrh]

Here is a link to a Pinterest site with a few more helmet and armor pictures, there are some newly edited pictures of armor details that have not been seen before.

http://www.pinterest.com/worldantiqu...d-surrounding/

[Oliver Pinchot]

Forum members, estchr has done us all a great service here in posting numerous images of Moro and Indonesian armor on Pinterest. Many of these appear to be unpublished. It seems he has also annotated the images for us; thank you, estchr! I'm sure all that work was quite time consuming.

I just received this image of a Moro helmet which is of the first type, from a collector who says it weights around 4 lbs and isn't bad to wear for short periods (I didn't want to ask....)

[Battara]

Some great examples folks and research, thank you all!

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Oliver Pinchot

Forum members, estchr has done us all a great service here in posting numerous images of Moro and Indonesian armor on Pinterest. Many of these appear to be unpublished. It seems he has also annotated the images for us; thank you, estchr! I'm sure all that work was quite time consuming.

Thanks Oliver, the images you and other forum members posted made me decide to finally put all of the images I have collected from this region in one place. I have done this with armor and weapons from other regions and it has proven to be a valuable research tool, having a pool of images to look at in one place allows you to see similarities and differences much easier.

Here is a very interesting armor and helmet. It is described as being from the Philippines. The armor is in the form of a cuirass, it and the helmet are made from from carabao horn (Philippine water buffalo). Both items appear to be European inspired. It is in the National Museum of Anthropology, Spain.

Possibly the predecessor of the later mail and plate armor and brass helmet or just another variation?

[Spunjer]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Thanks Oliver, the images you and other forum members posted made me decide to finally put all of the images I have collected from this region in one place. I have done this with armor and weapons from other regions and it has proven to be a valuable research tool, having a pool of images to look at in one place allows you to see similarities and differences much easier.

Here is a very interesting armor and helmet. It is described as being from the Philippines. The armor is in the form of a cuirass, it and the helmet are made from from carabao horn (Philippine water buffalo). Both items appear to be European inspired. It is in the National Museum of Anthropology, Spain.

Possibly the predecessor of the later mail and plate armor and brass helmet or just another variation?

it appears that this particular style is indeed the predecessor of the mail and plate version. there's a similar one i've seen, but it was made out of carabao hide. is that yours? older still is the one on post #27, which is a facsimile of the old conquistador's cuirass.

[Oliver Pinchot]

Terrific contributions, Fernando and estcrh.
I've been reading Kroeber and Krieger on arms production among the Muslim peoples of the Philippines. Both wrote in the first quarter of the 20th century and have distinct perspectives. Kreiger is far more in-depth and provides as much provenance as possible. Both he and Kroeber report that armor was less commonly used in conflicts of the latter 19th-early 20th century. This may suggest that the helmets and coats under discussion date decades earlier. In the process of examining the few helmets available to me, I am finding that there is a distinct difference in weight, which may bear upon their relative age. Forum members that are lucky enough to own Moro helmets, it would really help the direction of this research if you can post an image and weight.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Oliver Pinchot

Terrific contributions, Fernando and estcrh.
I've been reading Kroeber and Krieger on arms production among the Muslim peoples of the Philippines. Both wrote in the first quarter of the 20th century and have distinct perspectives. Kreiger is far more in-depth and provides as much provenance as possible. Both he and Kroeber report that armor was less commonly used in conflicts of the latter 19th-early 20th century. This may suggest that the helmets and coats under discussion date decades earlier. In the process of examining the few helmets available to me, I am finding that there is a distinct difference in weight, which may bear upon their relative age. Forum members that are lucky enough to own Moro helmets, it would really help the direction of this research if you can post an image and weight.

Oliver, glad to be able to add something to this interesting subject, I have added a couple more images to the Pinterest collection. I do know of one Moro helmet which is currently for sale, if you send me a pm I can give the owners info to you, they may be willing to give you a weight.

[Battara]

Here is another Moro helmet with armor context. It comes from a Czernys auction back in April 2, 2011:

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Oliver Pinchot

I just received this image of a Moro helmet which is of the first type, from a collector who says it weights around 4 lbs and isn't bad to wear for short periods (I didn't want to ask....)

Oliver, it looks like the ear guards on this one may have been replaced, they do not seem to match the rest of the helmet.

Here is something that I think no one has seen, the Portuguese gold helmet presented in the early 1600s by the Portuguese to the Raja Dom Alesu Ximines da Silva (Raja of Sikka) along with 70 elephant tusks and other assorted valuable items. The Sikka royal family name was changed as a show of allegiance with the Portuguese. When I compare this helmet to other examples it appears that there are some similarities, possibly the other examples were a reflection of the original helmet.

Here are a couple of pictures of Don Jozef Thomas Ximenes da Silva, Raja van Sikka from the 1900s, showing him wearing the same 17th century helmet and posing with what I assume is some of the original ivory elephant tusks given to his family by the Portuguese in the 17th century.

Also some comparative pictures of the original gold 17th century helmet and some other known examples. Its possible that the bosses around the base of some similar helmets are mimicking the spikes around the base of the original helmet. The middle image is the only known iron example of this type of Indonesian helmet.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by estcrh

...Here is something that I think no one has seen, the Portuguese gold helmet presented in the early 1600s by the Portuguese to the Raja Dom Alesu Ximines da Silva (Raja of Sikka) along with 70 elephant tusks and other assorted valuable items. The Sikka royal family name was changed as a show of allegiance with the Portuguese...
...Here are a couple of pictures of Don Jozef Thomas Ximenes da Silva, Raja van Sikka from the 1900s, showing him wearing the same 17th century helmet and posing with what I assume is some of the original ivory elephant tusks given to his family by the Portuguese in the 17th century...

Outstanding material, estcrh.
I know nothing about helmets but, being an interested party, i browsed a bit on the subject.
I have located a blog in which the author visited Ilha das Flores in Indonesia in 2012 and had the chance to meet the Rajá of Maumere Dias Vieira Godinho, who still keeps the helmet once offered to his ancestor Dom Alexo Ximenes da Silva. Indeed this offer was made to seal an aliance, when the King of Portugal treated the Rajá as 'cousin', an attitude well kept in the heart of his descents.

I hope you guys don't get bored with these evasions from the topic

.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by fernando

Outstanding material, estcrh.
I know nothing about helmets but, being an interested party, i browsed a bit on the subject.
I have located a blog in which the author visited Ilha das Flores in Indonesia in 2012 and had the chance to meet the Rajá of Maumere Dias Vieira Godinho, who still keeps the helmet once offered to his ancestor Dom Alexo Ximenes da Silva. Indeed this offer was made to seal an aliance, when the King of Portugal treated the Rajá as 'cousin', an attitude well kept in the heart of his descents.

I hope you guys don't get bored with these evasions from the topic

.

Fernando, fantastic detective work, I was hoping to find a colored version of the gold helmet but had no luck, can you image how people who saw this helmet in person wanted to copy it and wear their own version, just in copper or brass etc and not gold.

Don Jozef Thomas Ximenes da Silva, Raja van Sikka "The Raja of Silkka" (Indonesia) circa 1940, wearing a European style gold helmet, originally presented along with other valuable items including 70 ivory elephant tusks,by Portugal to the Raja Dom Alesu Ximines da Silva in the 1600s, the gifts became a symbol of authority and helped provided wealth and prestige to the royal family. The royal family changed their name to Da Silva as a show of allegiance with the Portuguese.